Vault ventilator



BOSS B. weer, orV aan marne, cALrronNm I lvimini* vnurrnafronlf i-I'. Application anni november 14, i921, serial no. 232,956; agneaux nu; man.

` My invention relates to bank vaults and more particularly to an improved type of ventilating device such as is shown and described in my prior Patent Numbers 1,549 40 dated a August 11, 1925, mantenne?, aaai June Bank vaults, as at present constructed. must comply with certain rigid specifications which will render thevault substantially immu o from successful attack hy' drills or metal cutting torches. It is'also important that the vault be lire-proof and, as a resultsuch a vault will be closed. In order to make a vault of this type perfectly safe for the attendants and other em ployees to enter without fear of being sufcated, should they be accidentally or de- 1i erately locked in the vault, it is necessa practically airLtight when lustration a preferred embodiment of my inf vention, wherein- 1, l 'j Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a vault wall showing my invention applied thereto and in its closed position,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. il, showing 5s my device in its open position, Fig; 3 is an end lelevation loolringfrom within the vault end havinga part roken away to expose a portion. of the Arotor glen Fig. 4 is a sectional'view :of'mjy fevi en along line IV--IV of Fig. '1, and

Fi 5 and 6 are partial views showingl s modi cation of my device wherein the blower u A motor is automatically controlled by the rotor operatingliandle. j f' In these drawings like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.'

2 to provide means of ventilation so that fre air can be delivered Vto the interior of the vault, should such a need arise.

In providing such ventilation, however, it is essential that the means adopted will not defeat the prime requisite ofthe vault, namely, security to its contents. It is therefore a consideration of my invention to provide -a Ventilating means which will permit the proper amount of ventilation and at the same 3 time be of such a nature as not to weaken the Referring now to Fig. 1,10 desi wall of a vault. Projecting throng the wall 10', I show a cylindrical .sleeve 11 and secured to theoiiter end of this sleeize I provide a. closure member 12 having a plurality of openings 13 and 13' which communicate'with the interior of the sleeve 11. The inner. end of the sleeve 11 projects slightl beyond the inner surface o the wall 10 an at this point I provide a second closure member 14 which also has a plurality .ofopenings 15 and 15'`A 30.

ates the 1n vault. In my prior patents the ventilation of a vault is accomplished by the natural circulation of the air through an opening inthe vault wall. Under ordinary circumstances this means of ventilation is .sucient, hut under extreme conditions, such as are encountered in large vaults,- I find that it is de-- sirable to provide means for producing a forced circulation of fresh air into and out of the vault. It is therefore a further object of my invention to provide a means whereby the vault can be-eliiciently ventilated by a forced circulation of air, which means can be operated from within the vault and which will not renlfler the vault susceptible to successful attac Other features and advantages will appear as thedescription, taken in connection with the' accompanying drawings, roceeds. In these drawings, I have shown y way of i1- which respectively align with the openings 13 and 13. The closure member 12 is welded or otherwise secured to the c lindrical sleeve'll andthese parts are embe ded in the wall-10 during the construction of the vault wall. 'A so 'trunnion 16 is formed centrally of the member 12 and axially in ali ent therewith I provide an .o ening 17 t ou litho clesuro member 14. ounted upon t e. trunnion'l andin the opening 17, I provide a rotatable mi element which ts` snuigly in the cylindrical sleeve 11, butsufcient y free to be turnedtherein. This rotata le element comprises an outer casting 18, 'an inner casting 19 and a. pair of steel tubes 20 nd 21 195 which will coo rate withA the o nings 13,' 13 and 15, 15 as' will heroine r ap ar. The'tubes 20 and 21 are lwelded sec y to the outer and inner castings 18 and 19 and thus form therewith a unitary rotatable struof loo ermit it to which the t'runnion 16 extends and the inner any e casting 19 has a projecting stub shaft 23 which extends throughv the mnercasting 14 and to which a handle 24 is securely attached against rotation by a key 25. Surrounding the stub shaft 23 is a bushing 26 having a lock nut 27 andv securing it in' lace. he bushing 26 is threaded within t e opening 17 and is adapted to be adjusted with respect thereto so as to hold the rotor element against axial displacement within the sleeve 11.

Mounted u on the inner closure member 14 and cooperating with recesses 28 and 28' xn the inner casting 19 of the rotor element, I

show a spring-pressed locking bolt -29 having a ring-Shaper andle 30 and a spring 31 for maintaining it in one or the other o f the above recesses. Opposite the bolt 29, I pro'- vide an alarm device 32 which will have contacts included in the usualelectric alarm system of the vault. This device 32 has a plunger 33 which contacts with the casting 19 of the rotor element and is arranged to operate the alarm when the rotor element is turned into its vault ventilatingposition. In. addition to the alarm device 32, I also provide other-protective features in the form of a papertube34 havin a pluralit of alarm conductors errang-d t erem, whic if broken by a drillor the te, will set the alarm and a thermo-res onsive cartridge 35 which will also set the urglar or fire alarm, should it be heated to a predetermined temperature as by a torch or other heat, the cartridge 35 being located in the outer castin 18 of the rotor element. I have alsoprovi ed a. numbe ber of ackings about the rotor element which 4are a apted to prevent the introduction of xp osive' gases or liquids into the vault. One of these `packings is in the form of a disk 36 between the-'inner end of the rotor A and theclosure member 14. At the outer end of the rotor and surroundin the casting 18, I show a aclring'ring 37 w 'ch engages the inner sur ace of the cylindrical sleeve 11. A second such packing 1s .also provided at 38, it being located' at the outer edge 'of the rotor, and a third packin is in the form of a washer 39surrounding t e trunnion 16.

I have also shown a. fan or blower 40 mounted upon the inner closure member 14, but for a better understan of this feature of my invention reference sould be had to Fig. 2, wherein l show the rotor element as rotated into its vault Ventilating osition. In this ligure of the drawing, it be seen that the outer casting 18 of the rotor is rovidedwith a plurality of openin 41 an 41' and thattheinner casting 19 is ae provided with a similar number of openin 42 and 42. The openings 41, 41 and 42, 42 diverge and cooperate respectively with the o enings 13, 13' and 15, 15 to form air circu ating assageways via the tubes 20 and 21 with w 'ch In this modification the switch 44 re-.located upon the blower so that its operj ating lever 45 will be engaged by the sector .54. It vshould be understood, however, thatv by an electric motor 43 and a switch 44 having a lever" 45 is provided for controlling'the "i motor support, current being supplied to,

the motor by means of conductors 46. In the final assembly of my device I pro-` vide a finish plate 47 against the inner surface of the vault wall and against the outer 'l surface cf the vault wall I provide a second 6 i to wa ls of various thicknesses and also to finish late 48. In order to adapt my device compensate for other variations, I provide short lengths of light tubing 49 which can be easily cut and inserted into the openings 13 and `1 3' to form a neat appearin exterior. I have also provided a dellector hoo 50 which will deflect the air exhausted from the vault upwardly and thus insure a supply of fresh air at the intake opening 13.

. By referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that the blower 40 has an intake manifold 51 which rojects upwardl and '1 which, as a result, wi l draw the air e ed from the vault from its upper levels. In this ligure the sectionalized portion shows two of four screws 52 which are used in holding the member 14 upon the extending porj tion of the cylindrical tube 11. `An arcuate groove 53 is also shown into which a projection on one of the screws 52 projects to there-- bly limit the angular movement of the rotor e ement between its two extreme or opened;

and closed positions.

In 4 it will be seen that the `paper i tubes 20 and 21, The tubes 20 ,and 21 have en placed together, as shown in this figure,

tube 34 rms a complete protection for the so that the diameter of the tube 34 can be i reduced to a minimum, it being one of the 7 i' y k of the alarm circuits, such as are carried by underwriters requirements that thewires the paper tube 34, be not more than a prede. termined distance apart, the dotted outline in this figure illustrating the' osition of the i tubes 2O and 21 when the venti ating passageways are o cned.`

As a m ilication of my device, I have illus-` l i trated in Figs. 5 and 6 a means in the form of a sector 54 which will automatically start and stop the electric motor 43 as the rotor'is moved to its Ventilating or closed position. as been this particule-f.` manner of accomplishing this feature of my invention is capa le of many .variations .and that -I do not wish to limit vertently locked into a vault. Under these circumstances the attendant would grasp the ring 30 and. pull down the bolt 29,A thereby 130 i releasing the rotor element. He would then turn the .handle 24. to the right into the position `illustrated. by dot and dash lines in Fig. 3, thus moving the rotor into the position shown in Fig. 2 and in the absence of auto-v matic control for the motor 43, he would throw the `lever 45 into the motor starting osition and the 'blower 40 would then be drivenv and exhaust the air from the upper art of the vault. As the nir is exhausted rom the vault, n difference of pressure will be created between the interior of the vault and the exterior, and, as a result, fresh air will be drawn into the vault through the lower or intake tube 21.

In addition to the above Ventilating features, attention is also directed to the displacement of the holes 13 and 15 with respect to the tube 21 so as not to interfere with a line of vision from the interior of the vault,

as indicated by the line A--A of Fig. 2, so that the attendant, .in-addition to receiving air, can also see and communicate with the exterior through the passageway so formed. While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it is to be y understood that various changes may be made in its construction without departing v from the spirit of the invention as defined in .L

the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what ber, and means at the inner end ofsaidsleev f whereby said rotor may be turnedv to thereby-j".` open or close said openingsin 'said closingv member.

5. The combinatonnwith a vault wall, oi a metallic sleeve embedded in and extending through said Wall, a member for closing the position. ROSS R. WEST.

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The combination with a vault wall, of

a rotor element having a pluralit of openings therethrough, and means at th e ends offA a Y.' sind openings adapted to support said rotor l in said wall and close said openings when.:

the rotor is in one position.

2. The combination with a vault wall, of a rotor ele'ment having a plurality of openy Y ings therethrough, means at the ends of said openings adapted to support said rotor in i' said-wall and close said Openings when the 'n rotor is in one position and having openings j y adapted to register with said rst openings when said rotor is moved to a second position. Y 3. The combination with a vault wall, of a n ning through said wall, a rotor cylindrical o member wit 'n said cy indrical opening,

members at'the ends of said cylindrical i .opening having aligned openings theref through, said rotor having openings adapted to reglster with said aligned openlngs, whereby a pluralit of separate air passageways isv established t roughthe vault wall.

4. The combination with a vault wall, of

a metallic sleeve embedded in and extending sleeve journaled upon said support having axially extending openings ada ted to register with the openings in said c osing mem-' ne i 'A 

